


A little shadow

by Iloveitall123



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alexei is a little cutie pie, Alexei never stops eating, Aunt-Niece Relationship, Cancer, Hair Loss, Klaus is the best uncle and Allison is the best auntie, Mother-Daughter Relationship, No Incest, Side Effects, Sister-Sister Relationship, Uncle-Niece Relationship, Vanya is a great mother, Wigs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-01-07 11:04:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18409343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iloveitall123/pseuds/Iloveitall123
Summary: Vanya was out partying one night (she's never doing that again), makes a mistake and 8 years later she has a daughter. Alexei is amazing. She loves drawing, has a pet fish and is a little shy. The only thing is alexei has a tumor in her elbow.OrVanya has a kid





	1. Phantom of the opera

**Author's Note:**

> I got bored and this is what happened. Also, doors anyone know any good beta readers? I really need one...

The woman walked onto the stage and lay her violin case on the stool. The girl who was following her close behind sat in the front row of the audience. The woman opened the case, took out her violin and put it underneath her chin. She raised her now and started to play.  
While the woman was doing this, the girl had opened up a purple lunch box and taken out a ham and cheese sandwich. She ate it as she watched the woman’s bow glide along the strings.

The girl swung her legs, taking another bite of the sandwich. She scratched her head. Her wig was a bit itchy today, she'll put some cream on it when they get home. She closed her eyes and listened to the music and imagined what her uncles and aunt would be doing. 

Her uncle Luther would be on the moon. How cold it must be up there. And lonely. And quiet. Too quiet. She could imagine him waking up, putting on his space suit and venturing out onto the grey moon’s surface. He would bounce, because the gravity there is so little. She learnt that in science class. Well,the one she still went to. He would bounce all the way up to the highest hill where he could see the earth, and just sit there, watching the world go by. 

The music changed to a faster pace so she imagined her uncle Diego fighting crime on the streets. He wore a full black suit, a black mask covering his eyes and straps filled with knives covering his body. He would save families from being robbed, people from being beaten up in alleyways, women from being harassed by drunks, you name it. She imagined him beating up a group of robbers who broke into a family’s home. He flung a knife at one of them, pinning him to the wall

Next she imagined her aunt -only aunt- walking down the red carpet. Her name was Allison, and she was the girl’s favourite actor. Sometimes her mum would rent a movie off Amazon for 48 hours and they would watch it together on a Friday night. She imagined her in a fabulous dress and killer high heels. All the photographers would want to speak to her. “I love your dress!” “Looking fabulous tonight!” They would shout out, but she would just ignore them and look past.

She took another bite and the pace changed again. It was slow and more melodic, so she imagined her uncle Klaus. He always wore ridiculous but somehow amazing outfits. She remembered the time when her mum had to go to work, so uncle klaus came to her chemo instead. He made her laugh even though it was really sore. He loved making jokes and one liners, even though her mum told her that uncle Klaus was an addict. She didn’t really know what that meant, so she just ignored it. She loved him.

She couldn’t image her other uncles doing anything, because one was dead and the other has been missing since her mum was her age. From what she could gather, uncle Five just disappeared one day and never came back. Uncle Ben on the other hand, she did know about. He died when his mum, uncles and aunt were young. Her mum never wanted to talk about it though, so she just didn’t mention it. Uncle Klaus always said that he could see him though. 

The music slowed to a stop and the lights came on. The girl clapped and whooped. The woman took the violin from her chin and held it by the neck in her hand

“That was really good mum!” the girl said.  
The woman smiled at her “Thanks. Did you enjoy your sandwich?”

The girl furrowed her eyebrows, nodded, still chewing, said “Oh yeah, best one yet.”

The woman chuckled at her. “I swear you never stop eating.”

“Not in a million years.”

They packed up their stuff and exited the stage.

Later that night they were walking home. The city was quite pretty that night, and they had missed their bus, so they decided to have a stroll around before he next one came. 

They were looking through all the shop windows, eyeing up all the things they would never buy. But to the disappointment of the girl, all the shops were closed. Including the book shop. 

“Muuum” the girl whined. “I’m hungry.”

The woman replied, almost instantly, “hi hungry I’m mum.”

The girl groaned. “Your jokes are so bad. You're terrible at them." The woman grinned. "I know." "But I am really hungry. And you know, it is the holidays...”

The woman turned to look at her daughter. “You want a takeout, don’t you?”

“Maybe”

“I don’t know darling, we’ve already had one this month.”

“But that was 2 weeks ago.” She pouted her bottom blip out and did her puppy dog eyes. “Please?”

The woman grumbled at bit, but gave in. “It’s those eyes. They get me every time. Your nurses are going to have a fit!"

The girl jumped up and down on the spot and hugged her mum. “Thank you.”

“Aw, thanks sweetheart. Now, Chinese, or chippy?”

The girl sucked her teeth. “Chippy.”

The woman nodded her head. “Chippy it is.”

They were just about to cross the street when the girl stopped in front of a shop window. Behind the pane of glass there was a TV. “Hey mum, isn’t that grandad?” she called out.

The woman walked back over. She peered through the glass and realised it was. “Dad” she whispered under her breath.


	2. Memories suck sometimes, but sometimes they don't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanya remembers how they got Yellow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alexei is a smol bean and must be protected (↑^-^↑)

They were in the taxi on their way to the hargreeve mansion. Just before they’d left, they stopped off at their apartment to pick up some things. 

Vanya had an empty fish bowl in her hands. That probably looks a bit weird to the taxi driver. She had Alexei’s medicine and extra wig in a backpack at her feet.

Alexei was holding a small plastic bag with a goldfish inside and a backpack full of her things. She had Mr snuggles, her favourite teddy bear, her drawing pad and pencils, her headphones so she could listen to music on her mum’s phone and her homework book. Mrs Smith, her teacher, had given her some work to do while she was in hospital, but she never managed to finish it. She didn’t like maths or science, but she loved art and English.

Her goldfish, Yellow, was swimming around in her little plastic bag. Mum had said she wouldn’t be able to take Yellow with them, but Alexei couldn’t bear to leave him behind. In the end her mum ended up taking the empty bowl and Alexei took the fish in a plastic bag. It just caused less hassle and mum said she wanted to be at the house by the morning.

Vanya turned to look at Alexei who was playing with Yellow. She smiled at her daughter, but she didn’t notice. When Alexei was four, she was diagnosed with cancer. Specifically a tumor, in her elbow. They refused to treat it for months just because it wasn't big enough to operate on. Vanya remembered trying not to cry in front of her, but she couldn’t help it. She remembered hugging her before she went into surgery. She remembered turning away and crying into Allison’s arms as Alexei was taken away under anesthesia. She remembered seeing her coming out of the surgery, a tube in her mouth, her eyes taped shut, the only thing signifying she was alive was the steady beeping noise of the heart monitor. She remembered the countless sleepless nights. She remembered lying in Alexei's bed, holding her hand until she stopped crying.

What if Alexei didn’t make it? What if she one day fell asleep and never woke up? What if she didn’t get to say goodbye? What if this? What If that? She stopped herself before she started to worry to much. She couldn’t think like that. She forced herself to think about something else.

Yellow. She decided to think about Yellow. Yellow was Alexei’s pet goldfish. 

Vanya remembered walking into the shop to buy her a present when she was diagnosed. She was twenty five at the time, and Alexei was four, still using a dummy. Vanya was planning to get something like a game, or a book, or a toy, but Alexei just ran straight over to the pet section.

“Fish!” she said through her dummy, pointing at the tank of goldfish.

Vanya bent down to Alexei’s level. “Yeh, those are fish. You like fish, don’t you?”

Alexei nodded her head.

“Do you know what colour they are?” Vanya asked her. She wondered if she would remember, they had just finished their colour topic at nursery. 

Alexei pondered for a bit, her eyes darting all over the place, when she said “yewow?” She still couldn’t say “L” very well.

Vanya clapped her hands. “Yay! Well done, yellow!”  
Alexei copied her mother, and clapped her hands twice. She grinned, and her little teeth showing through the dummy.

Vanya smiled back at her. She stood back up again. “Come on then, should we go look at the toys?” She put her hand out for Alexei to take, but Alexei just stepped closer to the tank.

“Fish!” she repeated. 

“You want a fish?”

The little girl nodded.

Vanya looked at her daughter. She was going to need something other than a teddy bear and her mother during chemotherapy. 

“Ok then. Let’s go ask the lady how much they are.” She picked Alexei up and walked over to one of the store helpers.

“Excuse me.” She asked the lady.

The lady put down whatever she was packing away, stood up and turned to look at Vanya. “Hello there, how can I help you?” 

“Hi, sorry I was just wondering how much your goldfish were?”

“Ah, the goldfish. Does little mister here want a goldfish?”

“Sorry she’s a girl, and yes, she loves fish.”

“Oh I’m terribly sorry, the short hair and dungarees threw me off.” The lady apologized.

It was true, Alexei did have short hair when she was a toddler.

“No it’s fine, everyone gets mixed up.”

“Thank you. You said goldfish didn’t you?” the lady asked, leading Vanya and Alexei back over to the tank of fish. 

“Yes.” Vanya answered.

As soon as Alexei saw they were going back over to the fish, she stuck out her arm and pointed at them. “Fish!”

“Uh-huh, fish. Can you remember what colour they are?”

“Yewow!”

“That’s right.” She would have clapped, but she was already holding her in her arms.

The shop lady chuckled at the two of them. She did think that the girl was a bit young to be a mother, but she didn’t judge. “She’s a little cutie pie, isn’t she?” 

Vanya smiled and nodded at the lady. “She is, thank you.”

“Now, the goldfish are £15 each, and in the first year they will cost £230. That includes the tank, gravel, decorations, water filter, and cleaning equipment."

“Two hundred and thirty pounds?!” Vanya exclaimed. 

“Yes, that’s for the first year. After that it’s about £30 a year.”

Vanya hitched Alexei higher on her hip. “This fish better jump through hoops of fire.”

The lady chuckled at her.

Vanya moved Alexei from on arm to the other, checking her pockets for any money she might have. She doesn’t get her paycheck until two weeks.

In the end she finds two tenners and a fiver in her purse. 

“Will you buy one?” the lady asked, a hint of impatience in her voice.

Vanya shifted from one foot to the other. “Ok” She says with a sigh.

The lady puts on some rubber gloves, gets a net and fishes a sparkling goldfish out of the tank, and puts it into a plastic bag full of water. She ties the knot and hands it to Vanya, who takes it with her spare hand. “Thank you.” She says.

They walk over to the checkout and pay for the little thing. 

“Would you like a tank to go with that?” the lady behind the check out said. 

“No thank you.” Vanya replied.

“What about a water filter?”

Vanya dithered. “Do I need one?” 

“Yes, absolutely. Would you like some food as well?”

“There’s special fish food?”

“Yes. I’ll put it in for you.”

“Ok, thank you.”

“Would you like some cream eggs with those as well?”

“No, no thank you.” Vanya stopped her. “How much is that all together?” She dreaded to know the answer.

“Twenty four pounds and thirty three pence.”

Vanya just had enough money to pay for it. She fumbled around in her pockets, looking for the notes she put there earlier. She eventually found them and reluctantly handed them over the counter.  
She took the receipt and her change, thanked the checkout lady and left. 

Vanya holder the fish up for her daughter to see.

“Yewow!” Alexei pointed.

“Yeh, it’s yellow. Do you know what you’re going to name it?” Vanya asked.

“Yewow!” she said again.

Vanya chuckled. “I know it’s yellow, but what’s it’s name?”

“Yewow!” Alexei repeated for the third time. 

Vanya laughed out loud properly this time. “Is that it’s name now, yellow?”

“Yewow!” it was like she was stuck on a broken record. 

“Ok then Yellow, welcome to the family.”

Alexei smiled at her. Vanya kissed her forehead, then remembered why she had bought her it. Alexei would soon be getting an operation, followed by a 2 year plan of radiotherapy, then 3 years of chemotherapy. It was going to be horrific. As it turned out, it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment anything you'd like to see. One liners, jokes, bonds, headcanons, incidents you'd like to see, bits of Alexei's childhood, whatever. I'll try and put it in


	3. Meet the family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alexei meets her uncles and aunt again, some for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's anything you'd like to see, just comment. I've already written "a day at the swimming pool". Stuff like Alexei meeting others, going to the park, her first day at school, stuff like that.

Alexei stayed quiet the entire journey. That wasn’t uncommon for her though, she was always of in her own little dream land. Since she couldn't do much active activities, she imagined herself doing them instead.

The taxi stopped outside of a big house. Vanya opened the door and took the bags, then walked round to let Alexei out. The taxi drove off and they were left standing on the pavement.  
They both looked up at the dirty white building. It was about 4 storeys high, plus the basement where the kitchen was.

Vanya looked at her daughter. “Shall we?” 

Alexei nodded. “Ok.” She said quietly.

They went through the glass doors with the umbrella academy symbol carved into it. The chandelier was hanging from the ceiling, and a vase stood on the table in the middle of the room. 

Alexei stayed behind her mother. No matter how many times she visited this place, it always seemed scary at first. Like a hospital. Scary at first, but you get used to it. She looked at all the carvings in the wood and wondered how long it took to build this house.

Vanya walked through into the next room. She seen a figure sitting on the chair next to the fireplace. Their hair was styled perfectly, their hands on their lap. 

“Hey mom.” Vanya said. She didn’t reply, just kept looking forward, a solemn expression on her face. 

"Mom?” she said again, but this time someone replied, just not the figure sitting on the chair.

“Vanya?” the voice asked. “You’re actually here.” It was Allison.

Alexei watched as her heels clicked down the stairs. She wished she could walk like that someday, full of confidence and power.

“Hey Allison.” Her mother said. 

“Hey sis.” She stopped just in front of her sister.

Vanya shifted from one foot to the other.

Allison put an arm around her and brought her in for a hug. She pulled back and looked at her niece. 

“Wow, look at you!” Allison marveled at Alexei. “You’re almost as tall as your mum. You must be, what, 13 now?”

Alexei giggled. “Nope. I’m 8 years and 4 months old.”

“Wow. Almost a teenager!”

“Still 5 years before that.” Vanya joked.

Before they all knew it another person was walking past. “Ah. What is she doing here? You don’t belong here, not after what you did.”

Alexei frowned. What does he mean “not after what you did”?

Allison turned around and put her hands in her pockets “Are you seriously gonna do this, today? And front of Alexei?”

Diego stopped and walked over to Alexei, completely ignoring Vanya. “Sorry, didn't realise you were here. Well you’ve certainly grown up. Last time I saw you, you were just born. How are you?” 

“I’m good.” She managed to squeak out. Uncle Diego was probably the scariest out of all her uncles, even though she thought he was awesome.

He nodded. “Good.” He looked around and tried to think what to say. He didn’t really need to say anything else.

She nodded.

“Good talk” He said as he turned back around and walked up the stairs. 

“Way to dress for the occasion, by the way!” Allison shouted after him. 

“At least I’m wearing black.” He snarkily replied.

“You know what. I-uh, maybe he’s right. We shouldn’t have come.” Vanya mumbled.

Allison waved her hand. “Forget about him, I’m glad you’re here.” 

Vanya smiled and shifted to another foot again. She half smiled at Alexei, trying to look encouraging, but it didn't really work.

“Mum, can I go exploring?” Alexei asked.

“Of course. Just don’t get lost!” Vanya replied.

“I won’t!” she shouted, running up the stairs.

She turned right instead of left like Diego did, and round the corner. 

Vanya chuckled softly at her. 

Allison smiled. “She’s grown up since the last time I saw her.”

“Yeh.” 

“And that was only, what, 4 months ago? At her birthday party?”

“Yeh, must have been. That party was hectic.”

“It was.” They both chuckled at the memory. 

Upstairs, Alexei was off exploring. She ran her fingers along the intricate designs of the wood. She really did think it was beautiful. She wished she lived here, her mum was so lucky to have grown up in this giant house, running around, playing with her siblings. 

Running around. Something that Alexei hardly ever gets to do. Whenever she is allowed to, she gets very tired really quickly. And it hurts. But not as much as her chemo hurts, that's the worst. 

She stopped, put her bag down, opened it and brung out a packed lunch her mum had given her. She opened up a babybell and munched on that as she strolled the corridors.

She heard footsteps walking along the next hallway. She turned the corner, and who was there, her favourite Uncle Klaus! 

“Uncle klaus!” she said ecstatically, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Alamea!” Klaus said back, wrapping his arms around her.

“My name’s Alexei, not alamea. You know that.” She said, burying her head into him.

He pulled back. “I know, but you are my little alamea.”

She rolled her eyes, still smiling. 

“Long time no see!” he chuckled.

“I saw you a month ago. Remember?”

“Yes well, a month is a very long time. But you’ve definitely grown since then!” He measured her against himself. “You must be taller than your mum by now.”

Alexei sighed. “Well, not yet. Almost. But it’s not exactly hard to be taller than her, she’s tiny!”

Klaus let his head go back and let out a laugh. “Oh you’re such a cheeky little thing. But don’t let her catching you say that!” 

She smiled again. He pulled a funny face at her, so she stuck her tongue out.

“Is Ben here?” She asked. Ben was Klaus’s imaginary friend, his dead brother.

“Yes, he is.” He answered. He was so proud that his niece believed him, even if no one else did. “He’s asking how your arm is.”

Alexei’s face fell. “Still not better.”

Klaus pouted. “Aw, that’s ok. It’s not long now! Only a year.”

“That’s ages. You were the one saying that a month was a long time a minute ago!”

“Eh, you know what I mean. Does it still hurt?”

Alexei nodded. “I still take my medicine for it, even though that hurts more. I was wondering if you could come again to my chemo, you were very good last time.”

He smiled at her. “We’ll see.” 

“At least I don’t have to wear a breathing tube, I’ve got a friend who has one of them. She says it sucks.”

“Well, there you go, always look on the bright side.”   
He smirked at her. “I do like that wig you have on just now, though. I might steal it.”

She clasped a hand on top of her head and started grinning again. “No uncle Klaus! It’s mine.”

“Not for long.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

She let her hand fall.

“But look, I brought Yellow with me.” She held up the plastic bag full of water with the fish inside.

“Hello Yellow, good to see you again.” He said.  
“I’m exploring, would you like to come with me?”She asked, swinging her arms from side to side. That poor fish would be think it was an earthquake.

“Aw, sorry alamea, I can’t. I have to go do something. Say hi to your mum for me!” He said while walking away.

A look of confusion crossed her face. “What does alamea mean?” She shouted after him.

“It means precious in Hawaiian!” he replied.

She shrugged her shoulders. She believed him. Anything her uncle Klaus said, was right.

As he was walking away she heard him muttering to himself. Well, it would be to Ben. He said something about “dads study” and “no I won’t steal anything”. She was half tempted to follow him, but she had her own adventuring to do. 

She decided to go see the old bedrooms.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick apology

Ok so I just posted the wrong chapter so anyone who just read that one completely forget about it. Like wipe it from your mind. It was never there. (Seriously I'm begging you I messed up badly) tell no one. If you did unfortunately read it, DO NOT SPOIL IT! IT WAS THE LAST CHAPTER. DO NOT SPOIL!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry I know it's terrible but there you go. I'm already half way through writing the next one.


End file.
